Students’ Attitudes towards the Use of Slovene as L1 in Teaching and Learning of Business English at Tertiary Level

Abstract

Over the past decades, the monolingual (English-only) approach to English language teaching and learning has prevailed. In recent years, however, the trend of using students’ first language (L1) in teaching and learning English as a foreign language has re-emerged. However, the research on the use of L1 in teaching English for specific purposes is far from extensive. The aim of this study was to investigate the use of Slovene as the students’ L1 in teaching and learning Business English at tertiary level. The specific objectives were to determine the students’ attitudes towards the teachers’ and the students’ use of Slovene during Business English lessons and the students’ use of Slovene in learning Business English. The present study was quantitative, with data gathered via a questionnaire. The results show that, on the one hand, there is some inclination towards the use of L1 both in class and during their study of Business English. On the other hand, the preference towards the use of predominantly (or exclusively) English in class is also present and is positively correlated with the level of students’ knowledge of English. The results are of value to English language teachers as they suggest the contexts in which students’ L1 could be used in the process of teaching and learning English for specific purposes.